“Isn’t It Wonderful To Be a Woman” was delivered with deadpan humour and a waspish tone as the temperature rose in The Steamie.
The official wash houses were the main place to keep clothes clean in 18th and 19th century Glasgow and where laundry is, there is inevitably women and gossip.
In 1977 there were still 19 steamies across the city and Scottish actor and writer Tony Roper paid homage to them with a play of the same name in 1987, which was then screened on television.
39 years later and it’s still reducing the audience to tears with laughter as it signs off a tour of Scotland at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow, with Roper as director.
Set on the night of Hogmanay in the 1950’s, four working class women, Dolly (Louise McCarthy), Magrit (Ali Cleland), Doreen (Eden Barrie) and Mrs Culfeathers (Lesley Mackie) gather at the steamie to finish their final piles of laundry before ringing in the bells.
They don’t really want to be there because it’s hard and boring graft but are brought together by their lot as “unpaid skivvies” and to make the work easier there’s a few bottles of whisky and sherry to ease the pain.
As they work the chatter is of family life, lazy husbands and cheeky children and the women bond over their plight. But at the heart of the play and despite their hardships, the women use humour, solidarity and resilience to see them through.
What follows is a touching story which is full of good old-fashioned wit and an outstanding cast which gels with ease.
The women are joined by maintenance man Andy (Paul J Corrigan) who as the only man, is mercilessly picked on to pass the relentless routine.
There are classic moments like when Mrs Culfeathers tries to work out why her husband enjoys an extra tattie with his mince from a certain butcher’s and when Dolly is so entranced by a make believe phone call that she convinces herself she’s really talking to someone.
It’s pure class comedy but it also explains how something as simple as the invention of a soulless laundrette where the machine just spins and spins and a washing machine in the home leads to the break-up of genuine chances to chew the fat and have a good old moan.
With a fabulously realistic set and costumes by Kenny Miller, whose sign “no boilers in the steamie” is religiously ignored by the women, while they enjoy some cracking Scottish banter.
Dolly and Doreen belt out powerful songs by David Anderson, but it’s Magrit’s “Isn’t It Wonderful To Be a Woman” which sums up the whole message behind the story, that in adversity, friendship, love and warmth shine through in this lovely piece of nostalgia.
Steamie runs at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow until 14th November 2026. For performance times and tickets please visit: www.atgtickets.com.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.
Photograph by Christopher B Owen
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